Broken Rules
by cndrow
Summary: A young Leonardo lectures Raphael on the importance of following rules, but has to admit sometimes... it's alright to break them.  Warnings: oneshot; standalone, brotherly fluff.


Disclaimer:  
I do not own the Turtles, as much as I would love to.  
Setting:  
The boys are young, probably ten or eleven here. I've been itching to write young Turtles for a while, and couldn't resist Leo and Raph fluffiness. ^^ Here's two small moments between them.

* * *

Broken Rules

Raphael sighed as he raised his head from his arms, hearing quick footsteps nearing. He scowled just as Leonardo rounded the corner, who stopped and put his tiny fists on his hips when he spied him.

"What are you doing out here?" Leo demanded, gesturing at the dank sewer walls before returning to his angry pose.

Raphael flipped him off like he'd seen that man do last night on TV. "None of yer business!"

Leo's stance immediately relaxed when he saw Raphael was genuinely upset. He padded over and sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Raphael said gloomily, returning his chin to rest on his knees.

Leo frowned and scooted closer to him. "I know you lie to father sometimes but you never have to lie to me." He was startled further to feel Raphael's shoulders quiver as he sniffled. "I want to help, Raphie. Tell me what's wrong."

Raphael raised his head, his golden eyes glowing with anger. "Donnie said I was _stupid!_" he blurted, a fresh wave of tears darkening his mask.

"What?" Leo blinked at him for a second, then mirrored his angry glare. "Why did he say that?"

Raphael uncurled from his defensive ball, his arms flailing as he explained. "I broke the train set he's fixin' up. I didn't _mean_ to, it was an accident! An' he _said_ I could play with it! I asked first! He didn't tell me I couldn't turn it on! An' there was this flash and smoke and then he started yellin' at me an' said I was _stupid_ with that _nasty_ look he gets and told me to get out." Raphael crossed his arms, glaring through his tears. "So I did! Hope he's happy now!" He stared at Leo, his breath puffing heavily.

Leo poked a finger in his chest. "You are _not _stupid, Raphie. Donnie should never say that because it isn't true. So don't believe him." He gave him a big smile as he pulled him into a hug. "Believe _me,_ okay? You're really smart."

"Not like Donnie," Raphael said, sagging against him.

"No," Leo admitted, thumping his shell with a hand. "But you know lots of stuff he doesn't."

"Yeah? Like what?" Raphael asked grumpily.

"You know every single game Mikey likes. The rest of us can _never_ keep up with that! You know how to cook a lot of stuff because Donnie never cooks, and father says you _always_ make his tea right. You know tons of stuff about sports that even I don't know! Even those weird things like Cricket and Tennis."

"That's not important stuff." Raphael leaned back, his wide eyes pleading. "Is it?"

"'Course it is," Leo frowned. "And you've memorized twice as many katas as Donnie, and you and me are always the last ones to get tired."

"So…" Raphael fidgeted with one of his wrist straps, his gaze glued to his forearm. "So ya don't think Donnie's better'n'me?"

"What? No!" Leo shoved him roughly. "Raphie, Donnie knows lots of stuff we'll never know. I mean, do you want to sit and read all those big books he does?"

"No!" Raphael shook his head violently.

"So there's always going to be things he's better at. But he's never going to be _better_ than you, Raphie. We're just all different." He smiled again. "And I like who you are, Raphie, so don't try to be like Donnie." He grabbed Raph's hand and dragged them both to their feet.

"Okay," Raphael muttered, scuffling his toes on the dirty ground.

"But," Leo added as they began walking, "you still shouldn't have come out on your own. You know that's against the rules."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Like I care."

"_I _care," Leo replied sharply, his grip tightening on Raphael's hand. "You could've gotten hurt. Or what if you'd gotten lost? Or what if I couldn't find you?"

Raphael shrugged, finally smiling. "Don't matter. Ya always find me anyway."

"But- Okay, I do, but that's not the point," Leo pouted. "You're not _supposed _to! It's the rules."

"I like breaking the rules," Raphael said with great relish. "Yer so funny when yer all high-and-mighty!"

"Don't make fun of _me_, now," Leo chided, but he couldn't stop from grinning back.

* * *

Leo sat up, screaming and clawing at the air. His eyes finally jerked open, darting around his room in a panic. It was almost completely dark except for what little light crept in from under his door, which cast large ominous shadows on the walls.

He shivered as he clamped a hand over his mouth to stop a fresh round of shrieks. The nightmares were still really bad, and since father had made them start sleeping in separate bedrooms last week, he was completely alone.

Tears streamed down his face, and he blinked rapidly as his vision blurred, creating even stranger shapes with the shadows. The darkness was moving, shifting just out of line of sight like it did in his dreams, and he felt like any second it was going to swallow him whole.

He whimpered, crawling to one corner of his bed and pulling his blanket up to his chin, one hand still over his mouth. He was certain he was awake now, but his room was alive with _things_; things that were going to eat him if he dared closed his eyes.

And then it happened; a dark shadow separated from the door and crept toward him, hands raised menacingly. He tried to scream, but his throat was raw and dry. All he could manage was a squeak as he tried to bury himself under the covers, unable to tear his frightened gaze from the monster approaching him.

"Leo?"

Leonardo sobbed as he reached forward, his fingers pawing at familiar skin.

"Shh," Raphael said, climbing into the bed and diving under the blanket next to him. He wrapped his arms around Leo, his grip almost painful as he crushed him to his chest. "It's okay."

"They're going to eat me," Leo cried, clinging to his brother. "I don't want to go away! I don't want to leave you!"

"Ya don't have to," Raphael whispered, nuzzling his head against Leo's neck. "Yer stayin' right here with me an' I won't let anything eat ya." He spent the next half hour reassuring Leo, patting him gently. Finally Leo's trembling quieted as he relaxed.

"Thank you," Leo said gratefully when he felt himself again.

"I'm worried," Raphael admitted, frowning. "I mean, I like havin' my own room an' all but yer still havin' these nightmares." He cuddled Leo to his chest again. "Well, I'll just sneak in here ev'ry night," he said firmly.

"What?" Leo sniffled, wiping his nose on his arm. "You can't- Father said we were supposed to stay in our rooms."

Raphael snorted. "I ain't leavin' ya alone." He squeezed Leo's arm. "You'd sneak in my room if I had a nightmare, right?"

"Well… yes," Leo said, smiling.

"So this is one rule you'll let me break, right?" Raphael grinned at him.

"…Yes." Leo nodded as they scooted down the bed, curling in a tangled heap under the covers. It didn't take more than a few minutes for them both to fall back asleep.


End file.
